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Wednesday, 30 November 2016

Irish Roots Magazine publishes its 100th edition

100 editions of insightful, entertaining andreliable news and features since 1992

Irish Roots Magazine has just published its 100th issue – a terrific achievement for Ireland's only independent genealogy magazine, now run by Maureen and Julie Phibbs, a mother and daughter team based in County Wicklow.

This quarter’s edition brings reflections and forecasts about the past, present and future of Irish genealogy, and reproduces a nostalgic feature, written by the late Tim Cadogan for the first edition of the magazine in 1992, exploring the impact on public libraries of developments then taking place in family history research.

In it, he writes: "In the course of the past 20 years, genealogical research has advanced from the low-profile mildly eccentric activity of times past to a high-profile semi-commercial activity, increasingly targeted by tourism interest as another aspect of our heritage that can be exploited. I must confess to a twinge of regret at the arrival of the new and aggressive approach to genealogy."

More than two decades later, such feelings are still being expressed by those of us getting a bit long in the tooth, even at we delight in the latest online releases of records that were previously difficult, inconvenient and time-consuming to access. I'm sure these conflicting sentiments will still be being discussed among genealogists in another 20-odd years!

But back to the contents of the magazine... There is also a mammoth listing of 100 research tips and ideas to inspire you. It's full of research techniques, notes of record collections you may have overlooked, historical context details that may cast a new light on some aspect of your family history, and background explanations to give you a better understanding of some of the major genealogical record sets.

Other research features include overviews of sources for tracing ancestors in County Waterford and New Zealand; an article explaining the Brehan Laws of Gaelic Ireland; news and views from around the industry; a review of the many record collections released online during the last quarter; letters to the editor; Q&A; and much more.

Indispensable research companion

September's Discounts & Offers

See this month's discounts and offers for Irish family history resources, DNA tests and newspapers.

Essential for your research

Exclusive to Irish Genealogy Toolkit and News, this handy e-book brings details of all the Irish family history releases from 2011–2016.

Welcome to Irish Genealogy News

Irish genealogy research is famous for being difficult, if not impossible. This reputation isn't entirely deserved, although there can be some fundamental difficulties in discovering your Irish ancestry, particularly if you don't know where your ancestors lived. That's why I launched my website, Irish Genealogy Toolkit. It's a free online guide to Irish family history research, and it's designed to helpyou to find your heritage.

This blog runs in parallel with the Toolkit and is not sponsored, aligned or connected with any commercial organisations. As its name suggests, it carries the latest Irish genealogy news and it's read by professional and amateur genealogists who recognise its independence and wide coverage of news.

Be sure to bookmark my blog's home page, and check in regularly to keep up to date with what's happening in the world of Irish family history.